Five Proven Mindsets That Drive Implementation Success
Change is difficult, even for the most experienced teams.
Whether initiated by new technology, redesigned operational processes, or modifications to an organization’s roles and responsibilities, new ways of working represent change. And change is difficult, even for the most experienced teams.
Over the past few decades, The Parker Avery Group has worked with dozens of retail and consumer goods organizations in developing and implementing new business processes, organizational designs, and supporting systems. All of these efforts demanded select business areas or all of the company to change. Some of the initiatives were highly successful; however, others did not realize the expected results and benefits.
Why is implementation success so evasive? Because change is hard.
Many executives wrestle with the notion of organizational change management (OCM). For starters, there is always the underlying question: can change really be managed? Change involves people (as in adults) who behave unpredictably and usually prefer to make their own decisions. Secondly, businesses are indefinitely in a state of change, especially retail, so should we expect one team or function to own the expertise for navigating it? Some would argue change management is a core competency every manager and leader needs. Lastly—OCM is perceived to have an abysmal failure rate, which may prove the point that change cannot be managed. But, as an organizational change professional, that’s not a popular opinion to espouse.
In this post, we describe five proven mindsets, rooted in change management tenets, that are consistently demonstrated in successful system implementations.
Mindset 1: Ensure business end-users own the change
For the last few years, I’ve participated on teams implementing new retail systems and technology changes, so (almost) by default, the information technology (IT) department owns the project and any related OCM efforts. Yet, the end-users are not the IT folks, but mere mortals like merchants and planners and finance teams who actually use the technology daily to do their jobs.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Who advocated for the new technology?
- Who wrote the business case?
- Who presented it to the decision-makers (e.g., the board?)
- Who funds the initiative?
If any of your answers include IT, then I guarantee an uphill climb in getting the end-users to embrace the technology. End-users need to make and own every decision along the way—that only happens when the support function(s) act as advisors and present the potential options in an objective and fact-based manner. Support functions can never assume they know what’s best for the end-user.
Mindset 2: Treat end-users like family
In most cases, you don’t get to pick end-users, but like family, you are stuck with them. Depending on the project, we usually interact with specific areas of the organization, so we advise our clients to form a core team of business representatives. We don’t select them, but we do need to convert them to ‘believers.’ The core team members often bring competing agendas, adversarial relationships, and preconceived opinions about other team members, so someone must align and prepare them for the arduous journey ahead. In most cases, the ‘someone’ is the change management team. In alignment with project sponsors and leadership, the OCM team must quickly establish shared goals, set ground rules, and help them productively interact with each other.
Mindset 3: Understand end-users are the change leaders
And, they’re from all levels of the organization. The team learns it’s a long and messy process to move through the transition, so we help them understand how they each respond/react to change, so they better manage themselves. It’s also about helping them recognize how others react to change because they are the change influencers and leaders, the people in the trenches who others look to for guidance; they need the right skills and support to help get themselves and others through the transition.
Mindset 4: Ensure all voices are represented and heard
The traditional top-down structure needs to leave the building. The steering committee, advisory board, and core team need equal representation. Every level needs a voice and a legitimate opportunity to contribute and participate along the way. Consensus is not necessary, but no final decision should come as a surprise to a vested party. The only way to ensure this happens is to employ rock-solid decision-making techniques that feel equitable to all.
- Does this slow down the process? Yes.
- Does it improve the chances of the change actually sticking? Yes.
Mindset 5: Don’t wait for heroes
Forget about silver linings, rainbows, and unicorns. Change calls for a healthy shot of realism—and the ability to slog through the fog when you’re not sure where you’ll end up. Change is a contact sport; people get knocked down, but then stand back up. They move forward and then get shoved back. They get a few wins and suffer some defeats. But if the change is going to stick, your team needs to get comfortable with messes. No one person, or function is responsible for the success, or failure of a change initiative.
Change initiatives succeed when the people impacted by the change participate, shape, and lead the change. It’s that simple and it’s that hard.
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